Murder at the Hague

-- By Ian Johnson, ICDSM UK-

12th March 2006.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced on Saturday 11th March 2006 that Slobodan Milosevic had been found dead in his cell at the Scheveningen Detention Unit in The Hague.

Within hours of the news, his legal advisor Zdenko Tomanovic stated, "Today I have filed an official request to the tribunal to have the autopsy carried out in Moscow, having in mind his claims yesterday that he was being poisoned in the jail."

Russian general Leonid Ivashov had this to say about the death of the President of Yugoslavia,

"I regard it as a contract political killing because the court proved incapable of proving his guilt and
acquitting Slobodan Milosevic would amount to denouncing NATO for the aggression against
Yugoslavia,"

General Ivashov, vice president of the Russian Academy for Geopolitical Problems, added,
"It is a murder. The doctors whom Slobodan Milosevic trusted were not allowed to see him. Besides, he was not allowed to travel to Russia for treatment even though he asked. He was deliberately placed in a situation that caused his death."

In view of the refusal of the ICTY to agree to Mr Milosevic’s temporary transfer to Russia to receive urgently needed medical attention the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement immediately they became aware of his death. It stated,

"As is known, because of worsening health, S. Milosevic asked if he could undergo treatment in Russia. Russian doctors were ready to help him, and the Russian authorities guaranteed that all the demands of the International Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia relating to this would be fulfilled. Unfortunately, despite our guarantees, the tribunal did not allow Milosevic to undergo treatment in Russia. We are waiting for details about the circumstances of his death"

Mr Milosevic’s death follows just days after a subpoena was issued against former US President Bill Clinton to testify at the ‘trial’.

As well as the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) issuing innumerable appeals and warnings in regard to the deterioration of Mr Milosevic’s health, the ICTY had been warned on many other occasions from various sources that failure to address these serious health problems would result in his death.

On 12th Feb 2004 Ramsey Clark submitted an appeal to the ICTY, with copies to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the United States and all UN Security Council members, in which he stated:

"President Milosevic was indicted and is on trial because he intended and acted to protect and preserve Yugoslavia, a federation that was essential to peace in the Balkans. Powerful foreign interests, supporting nationalist and ethnic groups and business interests within the several republics of Yugoslavia, were, for their various reasons, determined to dismember Yugoslavia. Foremost among these was the United States. Germany played a major role. Later NATO lent its name to the effort in violation of its own Charter. The violence that followed was foreseeable and tragic.

"As the prosecution of the former President of Yugoslavia draws to a close his health is seriously impaired and has become life threatening. Hearings were cancelled last week because he was too ill to participate, but the Tribunal added onerous hours of hearings for the two final weeks of the prosecution case. Only yesterday the Tribunal was forced to reduce the hearings to half days because of a medical report on President Milosevic prepared by court appointed doctors. President Milosevic has been kept in total isolation for months during the period he headed the socialist party's ticket in parliamentary elections and when his party joined the coalition which elected the new speaker of the Parliament last week. Earlier this week the Tribunal extended his isolation for another month because of political events in Serbia.

"President Milosevic, imprisoned, his health dangerously impaired, defending himself alone in the courtroom, has been given less than three months to prepare his defense to more than two years of evidence before the defense presentation is scheduled to begin in May. These most recent actions of the Tribunal are representative of the gross consistent unfairness of the proceedings during the years of President Milosevic imprisonment and the prosecution case against him.

"To properly prepare the defense, it will be necessary to secure and review tens of thousands of documents, find and interview hundreds of potential witnesses and organize the evidence into a coherent and effective presentation".

Ramsey Clark ended his letter with a list of demands, with the final one being that the UN should,

"Provide funds to secure independent medical diagnoses, treatment and care for former President Milosevic in facilities in Serbia".

On the 5th July 2004 the Freedom Association in Belgrade, a member of the World Peace Council, sent an urgent letter to the ICTY, with copies to the Secretary General of the United Nations and all UN Security Council members. Parts of the letter read:

"As we have on several occasions before, been warning your predecessors, the actual deterioration of the health of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, long time President of the Republic of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is a direct and dramatic consequence of the way the process has been conducted and of the fact that you have neglected the recommendations of the physicians appointed by ICTY in order to determine the state of Mr. President’s health.

"Even after numerous warnings that, considering the state of health of President Milosevic, detention conditions, rhythm and conduct of the process can cause his death, you still continue to conduct your political process in the same way. We remind you and warn you once again that eminent Yugoslav and international cardiologists have concluded in their objective and impartial expertise, which got consent of the physicians appointed by you, that the way this political process has been conducted represents a threat to the life of President Milosevic.

"In spite of the claim that ICTY is an international court of UN, you in severest way violate the Resolutions and documents of the UN General Assembly, related to health of persons in custody.

"The first principle of the Resolution 3794 on the principles of medical ethics, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1982, establishes an obligation to protect prisoners or detainees from torture and other cruel, inhumane or humiliating sanctions or behavior. The same Resolution obliges you to secure the medical treatment of the same quality and based on same standards as for the persons who are not in prison or in detention. But in violation to that, you have not provided President Milosevic with medical therapy nor even with medical care of the same quality and based on same standards as for persons who are not in detention. This way you also violate the Article 6 of the Codex of behavior of persons responsible for application of the Law, adopted by UN General Assembly on December 17, 1979.

"In addition to violation of the mentioned Resolutions, you also violate your own Statute, namely its Article 21, point 4b, which obliges you to provide every defendant with appropriate time and facilities for preparation of his defense.

"The astonishing rhythm of this political process, purpose of which is not determination of the truth, but total endangering of the health of President Milosevic, leads us to a conclusion that the fatal outcome is your intention, in order to silence the truth President Milosevic and his witnesses are prepared to present.

"We warn you once again that it is your obligation to harmonize your Rules and practices with all UN documents on human rights protection, as well as with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".

President of the Managing Board of the Freedom Association -Bogoljub Bjelica /signed/

On the 20 November 2005 two famous Serbian cardiologists, together with five other renowned Serbian university professors of medicine, issued a written appeal to the ICTY under the heading, ‘Appeal to Protect Health and Life of Slobodan Milosevic.’

This appeal was backed by the statement of 120 members of the Medical Academic Forum. Here are extracts:

" The reports on deteriorating health condition of the former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic have been followed with deep concern.
The findings of the international medical team, after examination of 4 November 2005 additionally troubled us. They clearly show that Slobodan Milosevic needs a break for additional medical check and
appropriate medical treatment but not in prison conditions.
We, doctors and humanists were appalled by the fact that the trial chamber in charge of the case against president Milosevic failed to seriously consider the medical findings and recommendations of our
colleagues who attended him, opting for continuing the process until he almost collapsed in the very court room.
Such a conduct by the members of the chamber is inadmissible.
The right to life and the right to health supersede any other right, supersede the very court itself. No court is entitled to try anyone at the cost of one's health and one's life".
Among the demands contained in the letter were:
"Suspension of trial to Slobodan Milosevic for six weeks as proposed by the international team of medical doctors, composed of university professors from France, Russia and Serbia, specialists in cardiology, angyology and otorhinolaryngology.
Treatment during suspension of trial as the international team of doctors proposed, and make additional examinations as they recommended;
Treatment of Slobodan Milosevic must fully comply with the international norms on human and civil rights including the respect for the Lisbon Declaration concerning the freedom of choice of the doctor and the institution the patient confides".

The Statement from the Medical Academic Forum was even more explicit:

"Today we have come together in a quest to publicly voice our deep concern over the violation of human rights, among them the right to life and medical care of a sick man.
This association counts 120 medical doctors of academic provenance from Serbia, Montenegro and the world.
We, in the association, voice our protest and request to stop further prostration of an ill man because it can amount to an execution.
Provide him with medical care - immediately and without any delay – you are aware of your obligation to do so under any judicial standards, because if not you are accomplices in a premeditated killing, which we hope you won't dare."

As mentioned previously, an appeal as recent as the end of February 2006 for Mr Milosevic to be treated by specialists of his choice at the Bakulev Scientific Center of Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow, an appeal backed by the Russian Federation, was refused by the ICTY.

In response the ICDSM issued this statement:

"By this decision, the Hague Tribunal has shown clearer than ever that it does not take care about law and human rights. President Milosevic is denied his right to get medical treatment in the institution of his choice in spite of the guarantees of one of the most serious and most powerful countries in the world, a member of the UN Security Council.
This decision has a criminal character and at the same time it further shakes the UN system. We expect this decision to be changed and call upon all who care about justice and human rights to contribute to
that end." (ICDSM Statement 24th February 2006).

Yield or Perish

The reason for detailing all the above examples is to make it absolutely clear that the ICTY and their Nato masters, were fully aware that by refusing Mr Milosevic access to correct medical treatment for his health problems they would be signing his death warrant. The implications of that are stark. The message that the ICTY, or more specifically their masters, want to send out is that if you oppose Nato and you oppose the New World Order, then they will kill you. Whether by criminal negligence or poison, the end result is the same.

"I do not know whether or not they will poison him but I do not rule this out altogether. I do not rule out that he might be even secretly liquidated. As far as his medical treatment is concerned, their moves do not give any grounds to believe that he is being treated in a fair and humane way. Their decision is negative. Incidentally, as I see the reasons behind the decision, I believe that it is not just inhumane, it simply violates human rights. At issue is an ailing man, a man aged 65. Despite the immaculate validity of the various components of this appeal, of this request, they turned it down.
"The arguments used to justify the decision - that the prosecution fears he will not return from Russia and that he can get treatment elsewhere, including Holland - are also quite unacceptable. They are even hurtful to Russia because they mean that Russian guarantees are seen as unreliable. And the second and most important thing is that Slobodan Milosevic does not trust the doctors there, while he does trust Russian doctors".

Given the above it is little wonder that the Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that at its next plenary meeting, on 15 March 2006, the State Duma will adopt a resolution demanding that the judges of the Hague tribunal who denied medical treatment to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic be held accountable.

He added, that deputies would demand abolition of the Hague tribunal, which had no legal status, and is ‘a mock trial’. He said that representatives of the tribunal must be held responsible for wearing their defendant down and he believed the tribunal deliberately procrastinated because "they had no grounds for handing down a verdict on his case". "The best exit out of this impasse for them was Milosevic's death. First, Milosevic was tormented through trials lasting many years and then he was effectively killed,"

"He was just a detainee and no sentence had been passed on his case" the State Duma deputy chairman added.

1999 Propaganda Revisited

The death of Slobodan Milosevic has seen, and will continue to see, a renewed propaganda onslaught via the Western media aimed at both demonising once again both Mr Milosevic and the Yugoslav Federation he led, and at the same time attempting to exonerate Nato.

In the main this orgy of historical falsification is a regurgitation of the old and much discredited 1999 propaganda. Such is their contempt for the truth however, that stories long since exposed as having no foundation in reality, are aired once again by the media as if they had never been refuted nor challenged in the intervening years.

When announcing the death of Mr Milosevic the BBC snidely added that ‘few would mourn his passing.’ If the BBC meant that few in the corridors of power in London and Washington would mourn then that would be understandably true, as in his defence presentation Mr Milosevic was revealing the criminal acts that these powers were responsible for and the part they played in the destruction of Yugoslavia. However, unfortunately for the BBC the world is not totally concentrated and much less represented by the capitals of London and Washington. To the inhabitants of large parts of Asia and Africa, South America, as well as Europe, to that vast army of people who are given no voice in the so-called ‘international community’, Slobodan Milosevic is a hero.

He stood up to Nato and the New World Order and continued to do so even when illegally incarcerated in a kangaroo court and beset with failing health. He presented his defence case at The Hague to such brilliant effect that the Western media quickly dropped their coverage of the ‘trial of the century’ like a ton of red-hot bricks.

(Milosevic had exposed the role of the Nato powers and had turned the tables on the prosecution and counter-charged NATO with war crimes. However, exhibiting no concern for this truth to become more widely know, ‘trial’ coverage simply disappeared in the West).

Now the Western propaganda version of the destruction of a sovereign nation is the version that they will try to write into Western history books. It is the ‘official’ version and no challenges to it will be acceptable less it became known that Slobodan Milosevic’s entire fight was to protect and defend the Yugoslav Federation, the Union of Southern Slavs.

And is it not ironic that Abraham Lincoln is lauded for preserving the American Union during the American civil war, yet for defending the Yugoslav Union Mr Milosevic is deemed ‘another Hitler’.

Moreover, William Spring from the CANA pressure group quotes this response given by Slobodan Milosevic to Richard Holbrooke when Holbrooke visited Milosevic and told him Belgrade was about to be bombed, Milosevic replied to him:
" You don't care about the Albanians. You are just using them. I care about them ( i.e. the Albanians in Kosovo ) because they are Yugoslav citizens."

Even Lord David Owen, no friend of Yugoslavia and certainly no friend of its President, was forced to concede that Milosevic was "a man to whom any form of racism is anathema".

Of course none of this is allowed to interfere with the grotesque media misrepresentations.

Such is the logic of Western propaganda.

Finally, it is necessary, especially for the political simpletons on the left of politics here in Britain, to simplify what the term New World Order means. Stripped of all rhetoric and ‘humanitarian’ phrasing its intention is to make a relatively tiny number of the world’s wealthy elite, operating through major multinationals and financial institutions, even more wealthy, with an opulence beyond belief, while the vast majority of humanity struggles to exist and to labour on their behalf. Strong independent countries are an obstacle to this aim. Small mini-states, subservient to the major powers, are ideal for the necessary exploitation.

Further, we would suggest that the flag wavers for the fascist KLA (Nato’s ground troops) heed the advice of author Michael Parenti who said, "Many misled people would benefit greatly if they gave some respectful attention to the side that tried to avoid war and save a multi-ethnic social democracy."

Although we wont hold our breath to see if the moribund left can ever raise themselves up from their prostration before their ideological masters, we do acknowledge with utmost respect the struggle of the thousands of people who have been involved and have supported Yugoslavia and its President and who quickly realised that a destroyed Yugoslav Federation would not be of benefit to the working class, whether they be from a Muslim or Serb or Croat or any other ethnic group.

A shattered Yugoslavia could only ever be of benefit to the major powers. Therefore the fight to preserve Yugoslavia was of necessity a fight against the destructiveness of the New World Order.

To his eternal credit and everlasting memory Slobodan Milosevic understood this, his speeches at the ‘trial’ reflected this and he gave his life fighting for this. History will judge him a hero of our times.

History will also judge the Western powers, its Nato sponsored ICTY and its apologists, both from the left and right, as the criminal abomination they undoubtedly are.

Ian Johnson

12th March 2006.

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